Welcome:

Call to Worship: (from Philippians 2: 6 to 11): 

Christ Jesus always had the nature of God,

But he did not think that he should try to become equal with God.

Instead, of his own free will he gave up all he had;

He took the nature of a servant and appeared in Human likeness.

He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death,

His death on the cross.

For this reason, God raised him to the highest place above,

And gave him the name that is greater than any other name.

And so, in honour of the name of Jesus

All beings in Heaven, on Earth, and in the world below, will fall on their knees,

And all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord,

To the glory of God the Father.

God sustains His World and provides for our daily needs through His Creation.  But there is something that God cannot do for Humanity through His Creation nor through His providence.  Because of our rebellion against God’s Will and against God’s Way, we have sinned and have corrupted our soul.  What we cannot do to remedy this, God, in His wisdom, has accomplished, through the incarnation of His Son, Jesus, as a mortal person.  Jesus, in obedience to God’s Will, became like one of us, and lived like one of us; but he did not sin.  Jesus, in obedience to God’s Will, died for us and bore our sins for us.

(Alan Catchpoole in The Wisdom that founded the Earth p151)

Knowing that, and as our response to this saving work of God through Jesus Christ, we gather together here today, to offer our eternal praise of God for His love and grace for each one of us.  And we offer our everlasting thanks to Jesus for his obedience to God and for his sacrifice for each one of us.

Prayer of Praise  (from Psalm 118: 19 to 29) 

  Almighty God, we give thanks to you because your love is eternal.  We give thanks to you because you have opened your heart to us by your unending grace.  We give thanks to you because you offer forgiveness of our sins through the humble death of Jesus on our behalf.  We give thanks to you because you have opened a pathway to live for us through the resurrecting power of Your son, Jesus.

  Almighty God, in your wisdom and power you prepared a way for us to obtain that which we could not achieve by ourselves, to remedy that which we spoiled by our actions and neglect, to undo that which had bound us to a life of separation from yourself, to remove the barriers between us that prevented reconciliation with you.

  Almighty God, in the same manner that the people in 1st century Judah could enter the gates of the Temple to be in your presence, so too do we have the confidence of now being close to you, confident of the guarantee of your welcome and greeting to us, confident in knowing that we can experience the wonder of your blessing for us, confident in knowing that we will experience the peace and assurance that you freely give to those who honour you.

  Almighty God, we celebrate your coming to us, we celebrate your goodness and majesty, we celebrate your righteousness, we celebrate your wonder above all that you have made in Heaven and on Earth.  Almighty God, we give you our praise and worship, because you are good, and you love is eternal.  Amen.

Hymn

“All glory, praise and honour to you, redeemer, King”  TiS333  AHB250

Theodulph of Orleans

Translated by John Mason Neale

Prayer of Confession 

(from Psalm 36: 1 to 4, 38: 18, 39: 8a & 7b, and 40: 11) 

Merciful God, we come humbling ourselves before you, recalling our negligent behaviour and our shortcomings. 

We recall your Laws and your standards and acknowledge that we fall short in so many ways.

How many times have we listened to the Sin that resides deep within our hearts, as it speaks to us enticingly?

Merciful God, forgive us and remove the sin from our lives.

How many times have we shown a lack of reverence for God in our interactions with others?

Merciful God, forgive us and remove the sin from our lives.

How many times have we boasted of our own goodness?

Merciful God, forgive us and remove the sin from our lives.

How many times do we excuse our foibles and our mannerisms, rather than seek to look at them in the light of the way God desires for us to live?

Merciful God, forgive us and remove the sin from our lives.

How many times have we acted foolishly and neglectfully?

Merciful God, forgive us and remove the sin from our lives.

How many times do we lie to or mislead others and justify it to ourselves?

Merciful God, forgive us and remove the sin from our lives.

How many times do we seek to hide our sins from God rather than confess them and open ourselves to God’s judgement?

Merciful God, forgive us and remove the sin from our lives.

I confess my sins to you, O God, they fill me with anxiety.

Save me from my sins, O God, I put my hope in you.

Lord, I know that you will never stop being merciful to me,

Your love and loyalty will always keep me safe.  Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness 

The Prophet Isaiah, in describing Jesus Christ as God’s “suffering servant”, writes that “He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die.   He was put to death for the sins of people … even though he had never committed a crime or ever told a lie.”  (Isaiah 53: 8 & 9) 

Having confessed our sins before God and having put our faith in the truth that Jesus Christ died for our sins once and for all, let us be assured that God has heard us, that God has forgiven us, and that God welcomes us into His fellowship.

Thanks be to God.

Prayer of illumination

Holy God, through your Holy Spirit, instruct us that we might rightly understand the Word of Truth, and find ourselves as People who reflect the Living Word, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Bible Readings

Psalm 118

1  Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;

His steadfast love endures forever.

19  Open to me the gates of the Temple;

I will enter by them and praise the Lord.

20  This is the Gate of the Lord,

only the righteous shall enter through it.

21  I praise you, Lord, because you have heard me,

because you have given me victory.

22  The stone which the builders have rejected as worthless

has become the chief cornerstone.

23  This is the Lord’s doing,

what a wonderful sight it is.

24  This is the day of the Lord’s victory,

let us be happy, let us celebrate!

25  Save us, Lord, save us!

Give us success, O Lord!

26  May God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord!

From the Temple of the Lord we bless you.

27  The Lord is God, He has given us light.

With branches in your hands, start the Festival and march around the alter.

28  You are my God, and I will give you thanks;

I will proclaim your greatness.

29  Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;

His steadfast love endures forever.

Zephaniah 3: and Zechariah 9:

14  Sing, and shout for joy, People of Israel!

Rejoice with all your heart, Jerusalem!

15  The Lord has taken away the judgements against you,

He has swept away your enemies.

The Lord is among you as King, O Israel;

never again shall you fear disaster.

16  The time is coming when they will say to Jerusalem,

“Do not be afraid, City of Zion!

Do not let your hands hang limp.

17  The Lord your God is in your midst,

like a warrior, to keep you safe;

He will take delight in you,

He will show you His love once more.

He will sing and be joyful over you,

18  as joyful as people at a Festival.”

9  Rejoice, rejoice, People of Zion!

Shout for joy, your People of Jerusalem!

Look, your King is coming to you!

He comes triumphant and victorious,

but humble and riding on a donkey –

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

10  The Lord says,

“I will remove the war chariots from Israel

and take the horses from Jerusalem;

the bows used in battle will be destroyed.

Your King will make peace among the Nations,

He will rule from sea to sea,

From the Euphrates River to the ends of the Earth.”

[Revised Standard Version, Today’s English Version, New English Bible]

This is the Word of God.

Praise to you Almighty God.

Mark 11:

1  As they approached Jerusalem, near the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, they came to the Mount of Olives.  Jesus sent two Disciples on ahead with these instructions.  2  “Go to the village there ahead of you.  As soon as you get there, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden.  Untie it and bring it here.  3  If someone asks why you are doing that, tell them that the Lord needs it and will send it back at once.”

4  So they went and found a colt out in the street, tied to the door of a house.  As they were untying it,  5  some of the bystanders asked them, “What are you doing untying that colt?”

6  They answered just as Jesus had told them, and the men let them go.  7  They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the animal, and Jesus got on.  (Zechariah 9: 9)  8  Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches in the field and spread them on the road.  9  The people who were in front and those who followed behind began to shout, “Praise God!  10  God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord!  God bless the coming Kingdom of King David, our father!  Praise be to God!”  (Psalm 118: 25 & 26) 

11  Jesus entered Jerusalem, went into the Temple, and looked around at everything.  But since it was already late in the day, he went out to Bethany with the twelve Disciples.

[Revised Standard Version, Today’s English Version, New English Bible]

This is the Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

Passing the Peace

We are one in fellowship and in worship of our God, whether we gather together in the Church building on Sunday morning or whether we worship in the ‘digital sphere’.  It is important that we recognise that, together, we remain one in Christ Jesus.  With that thought, let us uplift our hands and greet those both here and in their homes: May the peace of God be with you all.

And also with you.

Children’s Talk

Screen 1

“Memory is like a child walking along a seashore.  You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasures.”

Pierce Harris Atlanta journal

(quoted in Readers Digest Quotable Quotes p33)

  Pierce Harris, Methodist Minister and columnist for the newspaper, The Atlanta Journal, writes of a child picking up ‘treasures’ from the sea shore, something that many of us have done in our own childhood, and perhaps still do.

  Now, I don’t know about you, but you don’t need to go to the beach to pick up pebbles.  There are plenty lying about in my gardens.  It appears that when they were landscaping our Estate prior to subdividing the land, they must have run out of soil to fill in all of the hollows, so they went to the nearby quarry that was digging up river gravel and bought truckloads of pebbles with which to finish the job. 

  But it’s not just pebbles that you find lying about your yard is it?  If you scratch around the outside walls of your house, you’re sure to come across the odd screw or nail, ones that you dropped when the house was being made or when you were doing some repairs.  [hold up examples]  And, at the time, no matter how hard you looked, you never could find them again, until 10 years later.

  But, surprisingly, it’s not just pebbles or nails or screws that you find.  I’ve come across pieces from broken crockery while digging in our gardens.  [hold up example]  Now, we’ve dropped the odd cup or saucer onto the kitchen floor, but we’ve never thrown the pieces into the garden.  So, how did they get there then?  I have no idea.

  And, one day, Bill and I were looking at the stairs near the front entrance to the hall, when we came across this ‘chuck’, used for tightening drill bits onto drills.  [hold it up]  Possibly it had been dropped when they were building the extension to the hall.

  But whatever you find, you can be guaranteed that it will not be in prime condition.

Screen 2

decayed, degraded, rusted, worn

  After being buried in the ground for a length of time, anything made of metal would be tarnished or rusted, and, if it is china, you will find that it is cracked and worn and discoloured.  That’s just to be expected from the effects of the soil upon any item that has become buried.

  That is, any non-botanical item. 

  These plants are currently growing prolifically in our front and back gardens.  They have a very pretty yellow flower when they mature,  [hold up flower]  but, as they age, the petals drop off, the stems wither and dozens of these small black seeds form.  [hold up dead plant] 

  Now, these seeds may look dead because they are look dry and withered, but, believe me, they are not.  After a bit of watering, new plants quickly sprout up everywhere, even in the cracks in the driveway.  They are a hardy plant.  Unlike a screw or a piece of crockery or this chuck, these seeds do not decay nor do they become degraded or do they rust or do they become worn.  From one little seed will grow a mature plant that, itself, will produce many such seeds. 

Screen 3

“A grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped in the ground and dies, .. then it produces many grains.”  John 12: 24 

  Did not Jesus talk of the very same thing to the Disciples and the crowd that had gathered around him when he was in Jerusalem in the week leading up to the Easter events, as we read in John 12?  In these words he was foretelling of his death, not as a sad inevitable end, not as the finalisation of his ministry and mission, but as the realisation of his ministry and mission, and as the commencement of his rule in Heaven and Earth upon his ascension back to Heaven to sit at God’s right hand side.

Screen 4

“We have not depended on made-up stories in making known to you the mighty coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  With our own eyes we saw his greatness”

2 Peter 1: 16

“but if anyone does sin, we have someone who pleads with the Father on our behalf, – Jesus Christ, the righteous one.”

1 John 2: 1b

  We have these eye-witness accounts from two of the disciples of Jesus, Peter and John; eye-witness accounts to the living power of Jesus Christ upon his resurrection, and to the continuing work of Jesus Christ in interceding to God for us. 

  Jesus Christ did not wither and decay when he was buried.  Jesus Christ did not rust or was worn away from remaining in the tomb.  He was raised to life and has been granted life giving power by God.  And the disciples attest to that truth.

  Easter is not a time for despair, but a time of celebration of God at work in the World, gracefully reconciling the World to Himself, granting each individual new life in Jesus Christ.  Reason enough for us to cheer and to shout out our praises to Jesus, and to express our thanks to God for His goodness to us.

Hymn

“Ride on, ride on in majesty”  TiS348  AHB264

Verse 1 of 5

Ride on, ride on in majesty;

Hark, all the Tribes hosanna cry!

O Saviour, meek, pursue your road

With palms and scattered garments strowed.

Verse 2 of 5

Ride on, ride on in majesty,

In lowly pomp ride on to die;

O Christ, your triumphs now begin

O’er captive death and conquered sin.

Verse 3 of 5

Ride on, ride on in majesty;

The winged squadrons of the sky

Look down with sad and wondering eyes

To see the approaching sacrifice.

Verse 4 of 5

Ride on, ride on in majesty;

Your last and fiercest strife is nigh;

The Father on his sapphire throne

Awaits His own anointed Son.

Verse 5 of 5

Ride on, ride on in majesty,

In lowly pomp ride on the die;

Bow your meek head to mortal pain,

Then, take, O God, your power and reign!

Henry Millman

Sermon

P.M. NO 60/1962 – ROYAL VISIT 1963 INTENRARY – STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE RT. HON R.G. MENZIES (pmc.gov.au)

Screen 1

Queen Elizabeth II: Photos From Every Year of Her Record Reign (businessinsider.com)

  I remember that, as a young child, I and many hundreds of other school children were standing at the Main Ring of the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds, cheering and waving our flags, as we watched the Queen and Prince Philip being driven around the arena.  This must have been on Thursday 7^th March 1963, when they visited Brisbane as part of their 1963 Royal Tour of Australia. 

  I could only find a photograph of them passing by school children in Adelaide at the 1963 visit, but the context and the atmosphere were identical with their Brisbane visit.

  Cheering and waving as we welcomed royalty.  That is the context of today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark, relating to what is termed Jesus’ ‘Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem’.  There is a lot of symbolism and imagery associated with these verses that is not obvious to us from an English translation of the Greek words in the passage nor being read in a twenty-first century Australian timeframe and cultural perspective.

Screen 2

“At once Jehu’s fellow officers spread their cloaks at the top of the stairs for Jehu to stand on, blew trumpets, and shouted, “Jehu is King!”  2 Kings 9: 13

  We have this verse from 2 kings 9 describing how, upon hearing that Jehu had been appointed by God as King of Israel, people spread their cloaks on the stairs, as we read, “for Jehu to stand on”.  Symbolism of respect for a King.  It is the identical symbolism that we read in Mark 11 where the disciples spread their cloaks over the (donkey) for Jesus to sit on, and where “many people spread their cloaks on the road”  (Mark 11: 7b & 8a)  as Jesus, their King, rode by.

Screen 3

“with branches in your hands, start the festival”  Psalm 118: 27

  Part of our reading from Psalm 118 talks of using branches in a celebration of God blessing “the one who comes in the name of the Lord”,  (Psalm 118: 26 & 27)  It is, again, similar symbolism that we read in Mark 11, where we read “others cut branches (off the trees) in the fields and spread them on the road”  (Mark 11: 8b) 

“Carrying branches was part of the worship at the feast depicted in Psalm 118: 27”

  (Craig Keener in Mark in The IVP Bible Background Commentary on the New Testament p165) 

  Psalm 118: 27 – branch [AV = cord]

Strong’s OT5688 = aboth = meaning includes foliage e.g. thick bough or branch

  Mark 11: 8 – branch [AV = branches]

Strong’s NT4746 = stoybas = meaning includes a bough of a tree or branch

Screen 4

“God bless Him who comes in the name of the Lord”  Mark 11: 9b

“May God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord!” – Psalm 118: 26a

“God bless the coming Kingdom of King David”  Mark 11: 10a

“He will rule as King David’s successor” – Isaiah 9: 7

“I will choose as King a righteous descendant of David” – Jeremiah 23: 5, 33: 15

  But, more than just being an implicit display from their actions, in the words shouted by the people on the road to Jerusalem they were openly proclaiming Jesus as God’s chosen King of the People of Israel.  They were repeating the wording of Old Testament prophesies about the Messiah, God’s chosen successor to King David, God’s chosen leader for His People, the People of Israel. 

  The people were repeating, word for word, the blessing from Psalm 118: 26.  In Jesus, they recognised someone who was coming “in the name of God”. 

  In their proclaiming of the coming “Kingdom of King David”, they were recognising Jesus as the successor of King David, that Jesus was the righteous descendant of King David, whose coming had been foretold.

  This was the image that Jesus intentionally sought to portray in the manner in which he rode along the road from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem.

Screen 5

“You will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden.  Untie it and bring it to me.”  Mark 11: 2

  Jesus specially arranged for there to be available for his use a colt, a foal of a donkey, a foal that had never been ridden.  Why was this so important?

  J Thompson, in his Handbook of Life in Bible Times, states that:

“Horses do not seem to have been used much for everyday transport; in Bible times they were essentially animals of war. … Horses were used because of their greater speed and mobility in attack.  (p204 & 284) 

  G Carnsdale in writing about Animals in the Bible, states that:

“The Biblical picture is .. that royal persons rode asses (donkeys) on peaceful occasions while horses are associated with war.”  (The Illustrated Bible Dictionary Part 1 p52) 

  Jesus rode on a donkey.

  In riding a donkey Jesus is making a reference to Jacob’s prophesy for his son Judah:

“Judah will hold the royal sceptre, and his descendants will always rule.  He ties his young donkey to a grapevine.”  (Genesis 49: 10 & 11)  .

Thus, Jesus is alluding to his inheriting the authority, as a descendant of Judah, to rule over God’s people and to bring about peace.

  In riding a donkey Jesus is claiming to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy concerning the future King:

“His royal power will continue to grow,

His Kingdom will always be at peace.  (Isaiah 9: 7)  ,

and the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophesy concerning the future King:

“Your King will make peace among the Nations;

He will rule from sea to sea,

From the Euphrates River to the ends of the Earth.”  (Zechariah 9: 10)  .

Thus, Jesus is claiming to be the King chosen by God to bring peace to God’s People.

  But it wasn’t just any donkey that Jesus was riding, it was the unridden foal of a donkey.  Why is this important?

  In Numbers 19: 1 to 10 is the Regulation concerning a sacrifice of a cow as the preparation for the removal of ritual uncleanliness among the community of the Israelites.  The cow must be unblemished and must not have been used for any work.

  In 1 Samuel 6: 7 we read of the preparations undertaken by the Philistines for the return of the Ark of the Covenant to the Israelites, after the Philistines had stolen the Ark in battle.  They were to place the Ark in a wagon that had just been made and had not been used.  They were to hitch to this wagon two cows that had never before been yoked.

  We see in these two examples the principle of an animal or animals being consecrated to God, for God’s work.  And it was necessary that these animals were never to have been used for any type of work.  It is the same principle relating to the foal on which Jesus rode.  It too had never been used for any work nor for any riding.  It too was being consecrated to God, for God’s work, for Jesus to use to show to all who were there watching as he rode past, that he was the Son of God, God’s consecrated King and leader, who had come in the name of God to do God’s work.

  And this was made so clear to those watching, because, in his actions, Jesus was again fulfilling another of the Old Testament prophesies concerning the Messiah, that of Zechariah.

Screen 6

“Rejoice, rejoice, People of Zion!

Shout for joy, your People of Jerusalem!

Look, your King is coming to you!

He comes triumphant and victorious,

but humble and riding on a donkey –

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Zechariah 9: 9

  We read these words written by the Prophet Zechariah in about 520bce, 550 years before Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  Jesus is saying to those who were there waving branches and shouting out their praises, and also to the Chief Priests, to the Teachers of the Law, to the Elders, and to the Pharisees, that he had come to fulfill all that Zechariah had said in these words.

  I come as the one consecrated by God to do His work in the World.  I come as God’s King,

“to rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the Land”  (Isaiah 9: 7 and Jeremiah 23: 5) 

“to be a great light for those walking in darkness”  (Isaiah 9: 2) 

  I come triumphant and victorious but humble.  (Zechariah 9: 9) 

Screen 7

triumphant and victorious but humble.  (Zechariah9: 9) 

  There is some disconnection in these words, for what triumphant and victorious Ruler does not seek to loudly proclaim and to widely display what they have achieved.  And we need look no further than the victory parades of the Roman Emperors right through to today’s parades of military achievements and military might.

  But that is not the character of the rule of Jesus Christ.

  “The manner of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem expressed the character of his Messiahship, for here was no military conqueror upon a warhorse, or political revolutionary of the kind the Jews expected.  Christ’s purpose was not the overthrow of Rome but the breaking of the power of sin.  The work of Jesus had nothing to do with the politics and the wars of Israel, but with its religion.”  (C Graham-Swift in Mark in New Bible Commentary p874) 

  Did the people really recognise in Jesus what they were proclaiming in their words?  Who can tell?  Who can tell whether they were the same people who formed the crowd that the Chief Priests stirred up, just a few days later, to demand the release of Barabbas and to demand the crucifixion of Jesus?  (Mark 15: 11 to 13) 

  John recalls, from first-hand experience, that the Disciples “did not understand” the connotations of the message that Jesus was portraying to them that day.  (John 12: 16) 

  We know that the Chief Priests, the Teachers of the Law and the Elders took offence with the actions and the preaching of Jesus at this time, for Mark records that they confronted Jesus, days later, to demand an explanation for what he was doing.  (Mark 11: 27 & 28) 

  And we see in the Easter events how quickly the Romans valued the expediency of executing one person as the means to placate the growing hostility of the many people.

  But, in spite of the hatred, the opposition, the ignorance, the misunderstanding, Jesus persevered.  Paul describes the Jesus in his letter to the Church at Philippi:

“Jesus was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to his death on the cross”  (Philippians 2: 8) 

  Randolph Tasker, in his Commentary on the book of Philippians writes that:

“Jesus, alone, as the obedient Son of his Father could choose death as His destiny; and he did so because of his love, a love which was directed both to his Father’s redeeming purpose and equally to the World into which he came.”  (R Tasker in Philippians p104) 

Screen 8

“and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”

Philippians 2: 11

  As an outcome of this, Paul, quoting from a first century hymn, writes:

“in honour of the name of Jesus, all beings in Heaven, on Earth, and in the World below, will fall on their knees, and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  (Philippians 2: 10 & 11 and quoting Isaiah 45: 23) 

  In these words, we see the fulfillment of Zechariah’s words and gain an understanding of Jesus, the “victorious and triumphant King’, yet the humble and “obedient servant of God” as described in Isaiah 50: 4 to 11.

  Walter Brueggemann writes: 

“Palm Sunday reveals the bankruptcy of Humanity’s notions of power and victory and the true power of God.”  (A Lectionary Commentary for Year A p229)  With that in mind, let us follow the example of Jesus.

“(May we ) never become bitter or disillusioned, never resort to self-assertion or relax into self-satisfaction, but quietly and faithfully accept and do the Father’s will.”  Amen.

  (notes by Eileen Jacob for Thursday 28 September 1989 in Notes on Bible Readings 1989 p191) 

Hymn

“O God of every nation, of every race and land”  TiS621

[to be sung to the tune Morning Light – refer to TiS592]

Verse 1 of 4

O God of every nation,

Of every race and land,

Redeem your whole Creation

With your almighty hand;

Where hate and fear divide us,

And bitter threats are hurled,

In love and mercy guide us,

And heal our strife-torn World.

Verse 2 of 4

From search for wealth and power

And scorn of truth and right,

From trust in bombs that shower

Destruction through the night,

From pride of race and station

And blindness to your way,

Deliver every nation,

Eternal Lord, we pray.

Verse 3 of 4

Lord, strengthen all who labour

That all may find release

From fear of rattling sabre’

From dread of war’s increase;

When hope and courage falter,

Lord, let your voice be heard;

With faith that none can alter

Your servants undergird.

Verse 4 of 4

Keep bright in us the vision

Of days when war shall cease,

When hatred and division

Give way to love and peace,

Till dawns the morning glorious

When truth and justice reign,

And Christ shall rule victorious

O’er all the World’s domain.

William Watkins Reid jr

Offering

Offering Prayer    

“For the life that you have given”  TiS774  [to be sung to the tune ‘Austria’ – refer to TiS772]

[disregard the words – only the one verse is needed]

For the life that you have given,

For the love in Christ made known,

With these fruits of time and labour,

With these gifts that are your own:

Here we offer, Lord, our praises;

Heart and mind and strength we bring;

Give us grace to love and serve you,

Living what we pray and sing.

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Prayers for Others

Let us come before God with our cares and our concerns.

Almighty God, we pray for the Church, that we may commend our lives to you each day and be renewed in spirit by your faithful presence.

We pray for the grace of humility, that we may allow you to empty ourselves of selfish desires and the need to control so that you can raise us to a fuller life.

We pray for all who have been abandoned or accused unjustly, that they may know your presence with them, have the strength to hold to the truth, and find support in the Christian community.

We pray for the leaders of Government, that they recognize in Jesus, the King of the humanity, the model for leadership and follow the example of Jesus in serving those entrusted to their care.

We pray for all people of Good Will, that every heart may reject violence and force as ways to resolve conflicts, offer support to all who have been injured, and seek new means of reconciliation and healing.

We pray for all who have failed to live up to their commitments, that they may recognize their failures and, like Peter, repent and begin anew.

We pray for all who are grieving, that they may experience your presence with them and your abiding peace.

We pray for all who experience bigotry, violence, or discrimination, that you will heal their spirits, protect them from harm, and help them find new communities that offer support and acceptance.

We pray for all who are ill, that your healing love will bring healing to the sick, protect the human family from the covid virus, and assist all who are working to deliver the vaccine.

We pray for all who are suffering, that you will give courage to those recovering from storms, hope to those seeking employment, strength to caregivers, and protection to the vulnerable.

https://liturgy.slu.edu/ – Copyright © 2021. Joe Milner. All rights reserved.<br> Permission is hereby granted to reproduce for personal or parish use.

Loving God, we bring these prayers to you, trusting in your compassion and care.  To your glory we pray.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil,

For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,

Now and forever.  Amen.

Hymn

“God of all power, and truth, and grace”  TiS567  AHB477

Verse 1 of 5

God of all power, and truth, and grace,

Which shall from age to age endure,

Whose Word, when Heaven and Earth shall pass,

Remains and stands for ever sure;

Verse 2 of 5

That I your mercy may proclaim,

That Humankind your truth may see,

Hallow your great and glorious name,

And perfect holiness in me.

Verse 3 of 5

Purge me from every evil blot;

My idols all be cast aside;

Cleanse me from every sinful thought,

From all the filth of self and pride.

Verse 4 of 5

Give me a new and perfect heart,

From sorrow free, and doubt and fear;

The mind which was in Christ impart,

And let my spirit know you near.

Verse 5 of 5

O that I now from sin released,

Your Word may to the utmost prove,

Enter into the promised rest,

The Canaan of your perfect love!

Charles Wesley

Benediction  (from Invocations and Benedictions for the Revised Common Lectionary p73) 

We come to God, out of our darkness, to receive His light.

We come to God, out of our sorrow, to receive his joy.

We come to God, out of our doubts, to receive His certainty.

We come to God, out of our anxiety, to receive his peace.

We come to God, out of our failure and sin, to receive His forgiveness.

Let us come to God with open hearts and open minds, to invite His presence with us as we go into the World each day.

And may the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and remain with you always.  Amen.

Benediction Song

“Now to him who loves us saves us”  TiS771

https://hymnary.org/media/fetch/179720

(only the one verse is needed)

Now to him who loved us, gave us

Every pledge that love could give,

Freely shed his blood to save us,

Gave his life that we might live,

Be the Kingdom

And dominion

And the glory evermore.

Samuel Miller Waring